In August 2005, I was a junior in high school and really eager to start a new year.  The Friday before Katrina made landfall I was at my high school football game, I never even knew there was a hurricane near Louisiana.  When I got home that night my parents told me to begin packing up my belongings because we were leaving the next morning to go to Texas.  We left that next morning with a car fully packed with not only luggage but basically anything we could try to fit in the vehicle.  Unfortunately, with my entire family in the vehicle along with our dog we didn’t have much room for other things.  We had only packed enough necessities for a few days.  As we were leaving my house I remember thinking we will be back soon just like every other hurricane.  Once we got to our hotel room I can remember my entire family glued to the television waiting in agony to see what was going to happen to our home.  As the hurricane made landfall, the few images on T.V. were enough for me to realize I no longer had a home to return to.  So we decided to get an apartment where we were and try to make the best of the situation.  I enrolled in the local high school in the town and started to begin a new journey.  After a week or so in the high school my family decided that we needed to return home to asses the damage.  Unfortunately, Katrina caused extensive damage to my neighborhood.  Along with 9 feet of water, my house was also hit by a tornado.  My house was the only home on the block that had pieces missing and walls completely knocked down.  The entire back wall of my home had collapsed, and the center of my house had an R.V. in the inside.  The entire roof was also missing so even the material above the water line got damaged due to incoming rain.  We were not even able to walk through the house to see what was left remaining behind.  As other people in my neighborhood returned home to salvage what was left of their belongings, we simply watched knowing that we were unable to retrieve anything from our house.  My family then decided it was time relocate, and we tried to get back to somewhat of a normal living routine.  We bought a new which had water damage also.  Fortunately the home only had about 2 inches so we were able to remodel the home quickly.  Unfortunately, my family was not the only one affected greatly by Hurricane Katrina.  Katrina is a disaster whose stories will never be forgotten and will be passed on for many years to come.

I think this class is going to be a challenge for me because I have very little experience in Bible study.  I go to church every Sunday, but I am not as knowledgeable as I would like to be on the subject.   I am actually looking forward to this class.  I am very excited about furthering my Bible knowledge.  I think this class is going to be difficult but enjoyable.  I think this class is going to provide me with a lot of information that will make me a better person in the future.  In my future I hope and plan to become a Pharmacist.  I truly believe this class will help me fulfill my career expectations.  I feel as though this class will help me to have a better understanding of the Bible, and improve my learning capabilities in the future.  I also believe that this class will make me an overall better person and more capable of handling overwhelming events in the future.  I have read the commitments for this class, and I know that I can fully commit to these obligations.  I will follow all of the rules set forth, and I will make sure I am a very respectful student throughout the semester.

Throughout my first week of class I have already learned a lot of information that I feel relates to recent situations.  The first thing we learned in class was the importance of the year 586 B.C.E., which is a key event in the bible.  This is the year that Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians.  We also read Lamentations which was written by Jeremiah, also known as the weeping prophet.  The Lamentations describes the destruction that took place as Jerusalem was taken over, and it also reflects on the city’s aftermath.  The opening line of the Lamentations says, “How lonely sits the city that once was full of people!”  I find this statement to be very similar to what New Orleans experienced shortly after the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.  After Katrina had passed the city was completely empty which is very similar to the opening line of Lamentations.  Both cities experienced extreme devastation that would take years to recuperate.  Many people find some significant similarities in the downfall of the city of Jerusalem and in recent events that destroyed New Orleans after Katrina.  Both of these tragedies affected multiple things throughout the communities.  Not only were the cities destroyed but also the lives of all their citizens.  Many people lost their lives, and the majority of others were forced to relocate to a safer environment.  We always hear the famous line that, “History will repeat itself.”  I believe that the events occurring in 586 B.C.E., and what happened to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina prove this statement to be true.     

Then we read the Merneptah Stele which was a way for the ancient King Merneptah to display his accomplishments and talents.  The stele was placed on the border of the land demonstrating to all intruders how great that King was.  The stele also describes all of the people that the King has conquered.  This is used not only to inform, but also to frighten other trespassers.  This particular stele was the first artifact in history to mention Israel besides the Bible.  This is significant to the course of Theology because it provides us with another artifact that demonstrates the importance of Israel.  It also provides us with a strong example of what a stele should contain, and it also gives us an insight of how to read and interpret another stele if given one in the future.

Finally, to finish off the week we were shown two video clips based on the famous baseball player Babe Ruth.  Both clips were showing a famous event that occurred in history, but both movies had a different way of showing the event.  One clip from a more recent movie was a lot more modernized with different electronics that were popular at that time.  The two clips demonstrated to us that as time progresses so will a story.  Things could potentially be added to help that story relate to the people of that particular time.  This is significant to Theology because just as the events in the movie occurred much earlier so did the events that were written in the Bible.

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